School tax hike loses by 1 vote

Troy district braces for final canvass

An unofficial tally Tuesday of ballots that were not counted election night moved a Will County elementary school district's referendum proposal into the losing column--by one vote.

"You really can't get much closer than that," said Larry Wiers, superintendent of Troy Community Consolidated School District 30C. "To say we are disappointed would be an understatement."

Barring an unexpected reversal after a vote canvass set for Wednesday, or a successful challenge of the overall count, the results mean the district won't be able to open a new school built to ease overcrowding and will have to cut up to $1 million from programs, officials said.

At the end of Election Night on March 21, vote totals showed the measure had passed by 2 votes out of more than 6,300 cast. But 24 absentee, grace period and provisional ballots had yet to be counted.

When the election judges finished that counting and announced precinct-by-precinct counts, the disappointment of school officials watching the process was obvious.

"It's a slap in the face of the kids in the district," said Mark Griglione, school board vice president. "We tried to be fiscally responsible with the voters, and they've said no again."

It was the fourth time in two years that voters in the district, which serves about 3,900 students in west Will County, rejected an education-fund property-tax increase.

The first was in March 2004, when voters approved a $22.4 million bond issue to build a new school but turned down education- and operations-fund property tax rate hikes that totaled 70 cents for every $100 of assessed valuation.

Tax-hike proposals in November 2004 and April 2005 were for education-fund increases of 55 cents for each $100 of assessed valuation.

Last month's proposal sought an increase of 45 cents for every $100 of assessed valuation. It would have increased the taxes on a $200,000 home by about $18 a month, Wiers said.

Troy's new school, built to accommodate up to 1,000 5th and 6th graders and "alleviate tremendous overcrowding in all of our schools," won't be opened as planned in September without the increase, Wiers said. Griglione said doing so would create a $1.8 million deficit.

The district also will have to cut between $500,000 and $1 million from its annual budget of about $31 million, Wiers said. Programs that would be cut include art, music, drama, journalism and Spanish, and after-school activities.

Griglione said he expected the district would again try to pass an education-fund property tax increase measure, this time in November.